Jury acquits man on all counts in child sex abuse case

A 34-year-old man who was facing up to life in prison on child sex abuse charges was cleared of wrongdoing Wednesday by jurors who found him not guilty on all 10 counts.

After hearing a week and a half of testimony in the case of Oscar Olvera, jurors deliberated for about two hours before reaching a verdict. At the announcement of the verdict, Olvera cried openly, as did his accuser.

Prosecutor Chris DeMartino told jurors during opening statements last week that Olvera had sexually abused a girl for about five years, starting when she was 6 years old. Jurors heard testimony from the girl, now 16 years old, who detailed the abuse allegations.

“You didn’t get the whole truth,” he said, telling them he believed the girl had told them a “well-rehearsed story” that wasn’t truthful. “I don’t believe Oscar is getting a fair trial here, and you are his only hope.”

Instead, he said, it was a story she told after relatives found out she was sexually active as a way to divert attention and repercussions away from herself.

“It got her out of trouble, it started this process, and I’m asking you to stop it,” Goeke said, telling jurors the lack of forensic evidence in the case also was suspect.

DeMartino countered during his closing argument that the story was the truth and a painful secret the girl had told only to a close friend a year before telling relatives.

“Four years went by before the outcry in this case, so why should you be surprised there’s no forensic evidence in this case?” he asked jurors. “How dare anyone think that she would make this up.”

Michelle Casady is one of a team of reporters covering crime and breaking news in San Antonio and the surrounding communities. She came to the Express-News in February 2012. For three years prior to that, she covered the breaking news and criminal justice beats in Aggieland for The Bryan-College Station Eagle. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 2008 with a journalism degree and grew up in Alvin, Texas, best known as the hometown of Nolan Ryan.